Fruit-drier



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1. L. W. PAR-SONS.

. FRUIT DRIER. No. 321,135.

atented June 30, 1885.

W '1 s 0 2m m WW I Z b o RN hmvmhognphv. Washington, D. c,

(No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2..

L. W. PARSONS.

FRUIT DRIER.

N0. 3Z1,135.- Patented June 30, 1885.

WITNESSES 1.7V VEJVTOR fiww r l I Attorneyd" N. PETERS, Pholn-Lhhcgnpbu,walhinglon, D. C

NITE STATES LElVIS \VILLIAM PARSONS, fOF LOS GATOS, OALIFORJIA.

FRUIT-DRIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 321,135, dated June 30,1885.v

' Application filed January 12, 1885. (No model.) 7

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEWIS W. PARSONS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Los Gatos, in the county of Santa Clara and State ofCalifornia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fruit-Driers,of which the following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings.

My invention relates to fruit-driers; and it consists in the novelconstruction and combination of parts, as will be hereinafter fullydescribed, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section through thefurnace and drying-chambers. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectionthrough the furnace, the upper dryingchamber, and the exhaust-fluethrough which the current of hot air escapes; and Fig. 3 is a rearelevation showing the arrangement of the smoke-flue outside the drier.

Heretofore fruit-driers have been so constructed that when the freshfruit has been placed in the drier said fresh fruit has occupied thehottest part first, and was afterward bathed in the moist air passingfrom the fresh fruit along in the same direction that the fruit isgoing, thus retarding the process; or in driers in which the fresh fruithas been introduced into the coolest and dampest part first it has notbeen scaled over properly, and has been therefore slow in drying,thereby causing it to lose much of its valuable flavor before becomingat all dry; and then when it did finally begin to dry as it neared thehottest part of the drier it has been very liable to burn; in otherwords, in the machines as heretofore generally constructed the hottestplace has been the driest and the coolest place has been the dampest.

The object of my invention is to reverse this order of things andcombine the one good point of either of the other two old methods intoone drier, at the same time avoiding their faults, for in my drier thehottest part is the dampest and the coolest part is the driest.

Referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, A designates theheating apparatus or furnace, and B is an extension of the jacket of thefurnace, which serves as a fire-proof reservoir for the accumulation anddistribution of hot air.

where a space, H, for the passage of the cur- 7 rent of hot air from thelower flue up into the upper flue is left.

E designates the exhaust-flue through which the current of hot airescapes to the outer air.

F F F F is the smoke-stack, which conveys the products of combustionfrom the furnace along through the lower flue to and through the end ofthe drier to outdoors.

i i, 820., designate the fruit trays or screens in the upper and lowerdrying chambers. These fruit-trays are slid to place on side rails orledges, K, in the drying-chambers.

L designates the door through which the fruit-trays are passed into theupper flue. N designates a door through which the fruitscreens arereturned into the lower flue when removed at M.

At the dotted lines, 0 designates the location of a door in the side ofthe drier next to the hot-air reservoir for the final withdrawal of thefruit screens or trays.

To operate the drier all of the doors should be closed. The cold airfrom without passes through openings in the bottom of the jacket of thefurnace at R R, and circulates, as indicated by the arrows, around thefurnace and becomes thoroughly heated. The heated current passes up tothe plate H, heating it, thence into the reservoir B, thence throughopenings in the partition P P, which are provided with valves P,controlled by rods leading outside of the chamber or reservoir B intothe lower fine or drier containing the material to be dried.

It here circulates through the drying substance and also around thesmoke-stack F within the drying-chamber, so that the air heated in Balso receives the heat from F. The heated air passes along under theplate H H, heating it, until it reaches the back end of the drier, whereit passes up into the upper flue, back through the screens to the frontof the drier,

IOC

where it is reheated by direct contatc with the top of the furnace, and,taking up the moisture of the new fruit just introduced into the drier,it rushes up directly out through the exhaust-flue E to the outer air,thus preventing the moisture of fresh damp fruit from coming in contactwith and sweating that which has already been partly dried. The fruit onthe screens is passed into the drier through the front door, L, andplaced directly over the furnace for a few minutes, where there is thegreatest heat, until it is sealed over. Then it is pushed along on theside rails or ledges beyond the furnace to where it is cooler and out ofdanger of scorching. It is gradually moved along to make room for freshfruit, and continually meets drier and cooler air until it passes outthrough the back door, M, and is returned into the lower flue under thesmokeslack, and finally removed through the side door, 0. The heat ofthe fire strikes the top of the furnace, which is H, giving direct heatto the fresh fruit above. The heat of the fire then passes through thesmoke-stack F, which is oval in form in cross-section, to enable it tomore readily radiate its heat to the surrounding air in the lower flue.The smoke and the remainder of the heat then pass outdoors. A damper, S,regulates the draft.

I am aware that it has been heretofore proposed to constructfruit-driers with a hot-air reservoir divided by a longitudinal plateinto an upper and a lower flue, and this, broadly, I disclaim.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. The combination, with the furnace A and reservoir B, of the plate H,extending over the reservoir and furnace, and the smoke-flue con- 40nected to the furnace and extended through the lower flue, G, of thedrier horizontally to the rear end of the drier, and the exhaust-flue Eat the front of the upper flue, D, as set forth.

2. The combination, with the furnaceAand hot-air reservoir B, of thefruit-drier casing connected therewith, and the sheet-metal plate H,resting upon the furnace and hot-air reservoir, and extending rearwardlyand dividing ghe tdrier into the upper and lower flues, as set Ort v 3.The combination, with the furnace. hotair reservoir, and smoke-flue andexit-flue, of

the sheet-metal division-plate resting on the furnace and hot-airreservoir, and extending over the smoke-flue to form the upper and lowerdrying-chambers, as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own Ihave hereto afiixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEWIS WILLIAM PARSONS.

Witnesses:

A. R. REED, T. B. PROCTER.

